A Short Guide to Kerala

A Short Guide to Kerala

Kerala, India.

As we were only in India for one month, even visiting Kerala was a stretch, but it just looked so beautiful! We decided on two destinations, Aleppey and Munnar.

Alleppey

Why Visit?

Home of the beautiful backwaters, Alleppey is undeniably one of the most beautiful and popular places in the south of India. Otherwise known as the ‘Venice of the East’, small boats are available to rent for around 400 per hour (depending on your haggling), and they take you through all the canals to see the villages situated on the water! Our small boat even had beds, so it literally was the most relaxing day. Houseboats are also there to rent, which would be the perfect tour of the backwaters. They come with a balcony at the back to have lunch looking out over the amazing jungly backwaters. I can imagine these are quite expensive so not really adequate for travellers on a budget! The town of Alleppey hasn’t got much going on, but if you spend all day on the boat you wont need to be walking around town anyway. If your accommodation is slightly out of Alleppey, the town is pretty well connected with lots of public transport hourly, so you shouldn’t need to get a taxi!

Munnar

Why Visit?

Munnar is home to one of the largest tea plantations in the world. Everywhere you look there are hills and hills of the beautiful, not to mention what it looks like at sunset! Its counted as trespassing if you venture too deep into the plantations, but many have paths that are fine to go through. Due to our lack of wifi in the previous destination (Hampi) we were unable to book accommodation. There are loads of homestays/hostels along the main road in the Old Town, so it is possible to just turn up. There are also some delicious local food places, with one or two restaurants that serve western food.

The best way to get around?

Mopeds! These can be rented for 400RPS per day, and is the quickest and easiest way to navigate yourselves around the world famous tea plantations! Petrol is pretty cheap and there is a petrol station in Munnar New Town to fill up! You don’t need a route planned, or a map. Just drive and you will come across something beautiful!